Cursed
by Cecily Rose Midnight
Summary: In an earlier incarnation of the Avatar, we follow the adventures of Avatar Song, who is terrified of her own powers. Throughout the story she life-lessons and meets fun adventurers who follow her. Also, she creates an unexpected enemy, one she is too afraid to take down. Can Avatar Song muster up the courage to face her fears and step into the identity of the Avatar?


**_Fire. The very essence of power._**

**_Air. The lifeblood of freedom._**

**_Water. The quintessence of life._**

**_Earth. The core of pride._**

**_Together these fundamental elements have shaped the world. Only the Avatar can master them all. Only the Avatar can balance them._**

* * *

"Um… hello, my name's Song… I'm the new avatar," said the young girl, looking at herself in the reflection of the water, as the water bended the look of her brown eyes, jet black hair, and pale skin until it distorted and looked nothing like herself. No, she couldn't water bend, it was just the small waves of the water in her pond moving up and down, back and forth as all the small fish moved beneath the surface. "Oh, hi! My name's Song! I'm the new avatar!" Song said, faking the excitement, and then giving up with a sigh. "No one will never believe me if I don't talk like a normal person…" Song cried quietly to herself, wiping her eyes. "Why can't I talk to them?" She questioned herself, but she knew exactly why.

Song was always a shy child, she hated talking to people. They almost scared her, people were always so… intimidating, the way they stood tall, and talked down to her. She always felt like a dog who just hit on the nose for being bad, even though she was never bad. And people noticed it too- kids always snickered at her when she came around, and pushed her around. Maybe if they knew she was an earth bender, she wouldn't be picked on so much. But no one had ever known- they all thought she was a non-bender. Even her parents.

But she was more than just an earth bender. She was the avatar, but only so far, she could earth bend, and air bend. She looked to her side, and from the point of her finger, a small gust of air blew onto a dandelion, and the seeds flew away. She had recently found out that she could air bender, but it had been years that Song knew that she could earth bend. She rarely did it though, because despite that it was a gift passed down to her, she was afraid of herself. Song was terrified of the power she retained, and so she never used it, thus no one ever finding out. But in her heart, mind, and soul, she always felt the calling.

"Song!" A voice called out, over the small hill, and down the meadow came running a young boy. "Oh my god Song! You will not believe it!"

"Ling?" Song called out, bring back her hand to her chest, and hoping that Ling never saw her. Ling had spikey brown hair and green eyes, and was her age, which was sixteen, but Ling still had a long way to go before he would be considered his age, for he never acted it, but yet he looked it- unlike herself, she barely looked like a young woman, for she had the tiniest chest and had gangly arms. Basically, Song was a pile skin and bones tied together by blood red threads and fabrics. She lived in a poor family, they always struggled for food. And sometimes Song wondered that if she revealed being the avatar, maybe her family would finally have security, but knowing her Earth Kingdom father, Kang, he would never accept it, for he was the man of the house, and the only one who was allowed to support his family.

"Ling, what are you doing here?" Song asked. Usually only Song came down to the pond, no one cared to anymore, or maybe they never did. In the beginning, when Song found the pond, it was a gross looking pond, but Song saw potential, and cleaned it up, she trimmed the weeds, cleared the rocks around it, and fed the fish and birds. Soon it became a lovely place to sit and think, and with her earth bending, Song made a wonderful bench to sit on.

"Oh. My god. Song. Mei-Xing says she's the avatar!" Ling told her, and pulled her to her feet. But Song had gone pale, and limp, she was shocked. Now someone else was claiming to be the avatar, and Song wondered if maybe that she wasn't this all powerful, near deity identity. '_Impossible_,' her mind said to her, but her insecurities always wanted to play with more than sticks and stones. "Come on! We have to go watch her show them she's the avatar!"

"Ling, what if Mei-Xing isn't the avatar? What if it's someone else?" She probed, her shoulders rolling back and her arms were held up, palms facing the sky.

"So? It'll be funny to watch her fail." Ling answered her, and shrugged.

"Isn't kind of rude to watch her humiliate herself like that?" Song asked, and Ling stopped to roll his eyes, and look at her over his shoulder.

"Song, she makes fun of you all the time, don't you want to watch her suck?" Ling enquired, giving her a small smirk and waggled his eyebrows.

"No, I'd rather sit here." Song commented quietly, and looked back to her little pond, which practically beckoned her.

"Why don't you want to go?" Ling asked, looking into Song's eyes. "Did Piao say something to you? I swear, I'll punch him in the face if he hurt you!"

"No, he didn't. Let's go." Song said, and dreaded what came next, which was watching Mei-Xing, a girl who had always made fun of her fail at being the avatar. It was amazing that Song had alluded the Watch for so long, but it was no wonder why they brushed her off the list like a stray leaf. Song was always a coward, even her father said she couldn't hurt a fly.

The two of them, Song and Ling, climbed the small hill faster than she usually did. That was the difference between her and Ling; Ling never stopped to smell the roses, but Song always did. Literally. She preferred to go slow, and take life easy. Sometimes Song even wondered if she was born with the personality of an old woman.

The wind fell and grew, billowing through her long wavy hair, which was pulled back and tied by a lilac ribbon. Song's tattered skirt wafted, brushing her legs and feet with its soft touch, and she blushed as Ling held her hand, pulling her along with his own large and coarse hand.

It wasn't like she liked Ling in particular, it was just the small things he did, like smile at her or held her hand that got to her heart, and it was always the little things that tickled her fancy. In reality, Ling may be the best person to fall in love with, but Song still dreamed of that man in white shining armor. And Ling didn't seem to want her in particular either, it seemed as if they were meant to be just friends, which Song was fine with. But sometimes she wondered, because there was nothing better to do in life. In fact, if Song could make a living out of wondering, she'd be rich.

"You're too slow Song! We'll miss it!" Ling said, and picked her up in his arms, turning Song's face a beet red. Ling was strong, for he was a non-bender, and did manual labor for a living. He worked to feed his family as well, because his father broke his leg, and his mother had the little ones to take care of. Ling had to quit school to do this for his family, and told Song he was afraid of ending up just like his father, never amounting to much in life, except for being a father. That was a feeling Song knew quite well, but she knew Ling had it in him to change it if he wanted to.

The two of them flew past the old and run down shops, most sold low quality pottery or fans, these things were cheap enough to be bought by everyone. And they laughed as Ling skipped over stray sheep or pigs, and though Song freaked out at first, she knew she was safe with Ling. In all of the years he had started carrying her, the first time being after her pet fish died in the pond, he had never dropped her once. After carrying her once, he decided it wasn't bothersome to do it every now and them. He even used her as a weight for him to lift sometimes.

But today was different, for the earth beneath him started to sprout little foothills, and Ling started skipping over them, twisting and turning to avoid them, veer left, fake a right, turn around as if tripping over pebbles and stones were a dance. The only thing that could stop Ling was the giant wall that rose in front of him, forcing Song hit the wall face first, crushed between a rock and hard place.

"Oof!" Song yelped, and both she and Ling started to slide down the ground, and the wall returned to the earth.

"Whoops, sorry Song-bear." Ling uttered, and then pulled her to her feet. "I wonder who that was!" Ling stated, sarcastically, and looked above them, at the teens staring down at them from a second story window.

"Sorry, we were just trying to kill those massive bugs on your heads. Oh wait, those are your faces!" The teens laughed, and walked away. Those two were of the usual crowd, which was against Song and Ling, because Ling could have been popular if he wanted to be, but refused to be because of Song. There was a very distinct line between the cool and the uncool in this one-horse town.

"Well, that was fun. Come on then, we're almost there anyway," Ling spoke, and started walking. Song followed close behind, but stayed silent, as always. They passed the town clinic, which smelled of death, as per usual, and walked into the square, only to find themselves in a rather large crowd of people. But to keep things interesting, they made their way to the front row. Well, it was really Ling who made his way, and Song just trailed behind in the wake.

"I'm the avatar and I'll prove it!" Mei-Xing shouted. She had long black hair, which she tied in loops above her head, and was adorned by flowers and beads. She earth bent, creating a large tower like mountain, destroying the pavement beneath her. "I can earth bend!"

"We need to see you do other kinds of bending young girl," the head of the Watch commented, and Mei-Xing's eyes widened.

"I'll water bend!" She shouted once more, and tried moving the water in the fountain. "There, I did it!" She said, and pointed the water being forced out of the fountain.

Ling snickered, and Song watched with suspicious eyes.

"That is nothing but the mechanisms within the fountain, young. Now you've wasted our time." Said the head of the Watch, and Mei-Xing fell to the ground, sobbing. It was probably everyone's dreams to be the Avatar, and every one, excluding the Avatar's, are to be crushed. Song hated doing that, she hated being the Avatar for that reason, among others as well.

Before she could stop herself, Song started saying things and moments afterwards, she regretted it. "Wait!" She said, and stepped out of the crowd, gaining the attention of the Watch members, and Ling pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" He whispered, and Song pulled away, shrugging his hand off her shoulder, and stepped forward a little more.

"I'm the avatar!" She exclaimed, and practically everyone laughed, except for Ling.

"You, the avatar? We checked you a long time ago Miss Song, and we deemed you unbendable." The leader said, and Song frowned.

"Do not underestimate me," said she, whose voice just barely took the voice of many, echoing inside itself. She bent the earth, and stones flew in the air around her. "You didn't know I could earth bend." Song commented, and the stones started bouncing in the air, as if she was going to throw them, or were playing a game.

"Miss Song, I am astounded that you can earth bend, but there is more to being the avatar than earth bending." Said they, who still did not believe her, which angered her to no end.

Song let the bouncing stones fall to the ground, and with her feet, she bounced off the ground, and from her hands she let loose her air-bending abilities, releasing a barely controlled tornado. The people beneath her were shocked, some gasped and some screamed at the sheer power she showed, proving her identity as that god-like being all revered.

"That's enough Song!" Ling called to her, and Song looked down at him, for once in her life. "You'll destroy the town!" He said, and Song let go, allowing herself to calmly float down.

"Don't underestimate me," Song proclaimed, looking straight at her peers, and people backed away, never once looking her in the eyes. "I am Avatar Song!" She exclaimed, and the members of the Watch clapped.

Mei-Xing, who had stopped crying, stared at Song in anger. "How you can be the Avatar, you're just a quite mouse who isn't worth anything!" She said, and earth bent a large stone at her. Song was caught vulnerable, and she wasn't ready to defend herself. She had never been taught in the ways of fighting, her guard was always down, so Ling ran in front of her, and took the blow to back, falling to his knees in pain.

"Aaaah!" Ling cried. "ARREST HER!" Ling said, and the members of the Watch snapped their fingers, sending their guards to Mei-Xing's sides.

"Mei-Xing, you are to be arrested due to unlawful assault-" The leader of the Watch began to declare, but Song interrupted him.

"Don't!" She cried. "Let her go." And the men let Mei-Xing go. Song walked up to her, and held out her hand. "We can be friends, we don't have to be enemies."

Mei-Xing looked at her hand, and slapped it away. With her response, Song frowned once more, and walked away. "Leave her be." Said she, who knew the lives of many, and ran back to Ling, and pulled him into her chest. So many times he had taken care of her, now it was her turn. "I am the Avatar!" She proclaimed once more.

"All bow to Avatar Song!" The members of the Watch demanded, all of them bowed. "We need not look further, for our one true protector is here!"

And those words struck her most. Saying she was the Avatar was one thing, but being told that she was meant to protect the world, that practically killed her. Song regretted this day, and knew in her heart, a part of her might always will.

* * *

Boom! First chapter done. I have no idea when the second will be out. I have to decide what I want to do with the second chapter.  
I'm always open to suggestions. Hint, hint. Wink, wink.

Anyway, I'm glad people are reading. If there are even people. Like, maybe everyone's a robot. Or an android. Wait. What if I'm an android. What the actual &%# .

So obviously this would be a spin off of Avatar the Last Airbender. I'm not sure what the time period would be, but definitely sometime before Avatar Aang and Korra. Originally, the character of my fan-fiction were going to be for a fan-fiction about the very first Avatar, but that fell through, about a day afterwards of me finally deciding to write it. It was sad, but then I found a way to make this work without the original idea.

Anyhoot, I should stop rambling.

The only thing I own about this is the plot and the characters. I do not have any rights to the actual shows.

See ya later alligators! ~ Ceci


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